Patient-Delivered Partner Therapy for Sexually Transmitted Diseases as Practiced by U.S. Physicians

Patient-delivered partner therapy (PDPT) is the practice of providing patients, diagnosed with curable STDs, medications to give to their sex partners. The current study's objective was to estimate the number of US physicians who practice PDPT. The authors conducted a national survey of physicians in specialties that diagnose the majority of STD cases in the United States.

"A total of 3,011 physicians diagnosed at least 1 case of either gonorrhea or chlamydial infection in the preceding year," the authors wrote. In treating gonorrhea and chlamydial infection, 50-56 percent reported ever using PDPT; 11-14 percent reported usually or always using PDPT. Obstetricians, gynecologists, and family practice doctors reported using PDPT more often than internists, pediatricians, and emergency department physicians. PDPT was used most often by clinicians who collected sex partner information, as well as those who saw more female and white patients.

"PDPT is widely but inconsistently used throughout the United States and is typically provided to a minority of persons," concluded the researchers.

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